The week before the Mount Pleasant Library temporarily closed to the public, patrons of the library crowded the computer desks on the first floor. Each of the over a dozen stations was filled by a community member perched on a wooden chair as they used the library’s services to connect to the internet, hunt for jobs, or just enjoy a reprieve from the cold. But on Feb. 10, the historic Carnegie building closed to the public, leaving users without the shelter and resources the library offered.
The Mount Pleasant Library is slated to be temporarily closed from Feb. 10 until June 23 for repairs, leaving the Ward 1 neighborhood without the library’s services. The temporary closure will impact community-based services at the library, such as access to technology, career-oriented programming, and the distribution of supplies like blankets, hygiene kits, and COVID-19 tests. The closure will also impact people experiencing homelessness who rely on the library to have a safe and warm place to spend the day.
During construction, D.C. Public Library (DCPL) officials will complete “much-needed” repairs at the Mount Pleasant Library, according to DCPL’s website. Workers will install a new heating and air conditioning system, complete roof repairs, add new flooring on the lower level, upgrade furniture for the Teen Space, and repair the exterior doors, which were last renovated in 2012. The renovations are among a string of library facelifts by DCPL.
Public libraries play an important role in serving homeless people, offering heat or air conditioning in a space away from the elements, partnerships with community groups like transitional housing facilities, food banks, or faith-based organizations, and regularly scheduled programming events. At multiple meetings of the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness in January, community members said people experiencing homelessness in Ward 1 relied on the library for access to shelter and restrooms during the day.
Generally, libraries are a significant resource to communities in D.C. Over 48,000 people used the Mount Pleasant branch alone from July through September, with 8,475 using the library’s public wifi and 10,643 using computers, according to DCPL’s Fiscal Year Quarter 3 report.
Library users are being directed to the Petworth, Cleveland Park, Shaw/Watha T. Daniel, and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial libraries for services, according to a pamphlet distributed at the Mount Pleasant Library.
The Petworth Library, located at 4200 Kansas Ave., will serve as the primary interim library for Mount Pleasant, offering check-out materials, study rooms, public computers, and voter registration information. The Petworth Library, which is more than a mile away, or 30 minutes by bus, will also take over the Mount Pleasant Library’s weekly sessions of the Peer Outreach Program, a DCPL service that provides mentorship to library customers experiencing homelessness.
The Peer Outreach Program rotates between the MLK, Woodridge, Anacostia, Shaw, Benning, West End, Northeast, and Mount Pleasant libraries weekly and helps patrons find shelter, housing, mental health services, food, and clothing, according to DCPL’s website. Until the Mount Pleasant Library closed, people could request peer support on Mondays from 9:45 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Those seeking the program’s services are encouraged to visit the Petworth Library at the same time.
“Peers are role models who demonstrate competency in personal recovery, and by serving as a consumer advocate who provides clients with information and support,” the DCPL website states. “Peers build rapport and trust with a customer so that the hard work of moving out of homelessness, and/or into recovery, can begin.”
Ahead of the closure, officials with local Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1D expressed concerns about the impact of the library’s closure in a letter to DCPL and other District officials.
“Without local access to these and other resources, many residents — especially those who are elderly, have low-income or have limited mobility — will face significant barriers in meeting their informational, educational, and personal needs,” the resolution from ANC 1D reads.
The letter urges officials to consider supplemental community-based services like pop-up sites with book checkouts and printing and mobile units to provide regular neighborhood support and collaboration with local organizations. DCPL officials did not provide comment about additional plans the library has to support patrons experiencing homelessness.
The pamphlet detailing the closure at the Mount Pleasant Library shares contact and address information for neighborhood services — ranging from health, housing, shower, social services, warming centers, and immigration support — like the Columbia Heights Community Center at 1480 Girard St. NW, La Clinica del Pueblo at 3166 Mt Pleasant St. NW, and Martha’s Table on 1474 Columbia Rd. NW.
Those impacted by the closure can also seek out neighborhood services like immigration and housing support at CARECEN, a nonprofit that offers low-cost immigration legal services, located at 1460 Columbia Rd. NW; housing, youth, and job support through Collaborative Solutions for Communities, a nonprofit that supports families, located at 3333 14th St. NW; youth, health, job, and social services support at the Latin American Youth Center at 1419 Columbia Rd. NW; food, showering, social services, and housing support through Thrive DC, a nonprofit that aims to prevent and end homelessness, located at 1525 Newton St. NW; and health services at Unity Health Care at 1660 Columbia Rd. NW.
These resources aim to connect library patrons to vital community support in the four months the Mount Pleasant Library is out of service until the building is projected to reopen in June. “Our residents rely on DCPL not only for books and resources but as a cornerstone of community engagement and support,” the resolution from ANC 1D reads.
